AstraZeneca's Imfinzi gets US approval for endometrial cancer patients

(Sharecast News) - AstraZeneca said its Imfinzi cancer treatment had been approved in the US as treatment for adult patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. Trials showed the drug, in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by Imfinzi monotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 58% in patients that was mismatch repair deficient versus chemotherapy alone.

Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women in the US, with more than 66,000 patients diagnosed and almost 12,000 deaths in 2022.

Patients diagnosed at an early stage of disease have a five-year survival rate of approximately 80-90%, but there is a significant need for new treatment options for people with advanced disease, where the survival rate falls to less than 20%, the company said on Monday.

"There have been limited advances in the treatment of endometrial cancer in the last few decades, and continued innovation is critical as the burden of this cancer is expected to grow in the future," said Dave Fredrickson, executive vice-president of AstraZeneca's oncology business unit.

"Immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy is emerging as a new standard of care in this setting, and the approval of Imfinzi offers an important new option for patients with mismatch repair deficient disease."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com